Her Own Fairy Tale
by magicalgirlsdeservemore
Summary: Ymir sees the mermaid every day after school. (there is a mention of bullying) Mermaid AU


She sees her every day after school, doubting her existence, doubting her own sanity.

Ymir wants to believe that there actually is a mermaid in the cove she goes to when she wants to forget about the day she has. This creature is a reminder the fairy tales she was so fond of when she was young, before life was complicated; back before Ymir is seventeen and singled out as the "giant Mexican dyke." At first Ymir doesn't care what they think, even though she's self conscious of her height. But now there are cruel notes in her locker, and she no longer has anyone to sit with at lunch.

At first, Ymir thinks she's dreaming or simply delusional. The first time she saw her, she was sitting on a rock attempting to do some homework until she heard a loud splash. Ymir looked up, briefly, and saw a girl, who happened to be really pretty. Ymir was flustered, not expecting anyone to be there, especially someone so good looking, with short blonde hair and a bright blue tail. The mermaid caught Ymir staring and left.

The first few times, Ymir only caught glimpses of this "fantasy" creature. But as of more recently, the mermaid's been in her view for hours.

…

Ymir is sitting on the sand, not touching the water since it's freezing. The January winds aren't helping. She's worried the mermaid won't show up, worried that there is no mermaid and that this is all part of her imagination. But a blonde head emerges from the water, and Ymir sees her face from a distance. She waves slowly. Ymir waves back, surprised, and the mermaid disappears.

In early spring, Ymir braces herself for the chilly ocean, and pushes herself to swim out further than she usually would. Ymir can no longer touch the bottom, and stays in one spot, floating, hoping. The mermaid arises next to her. As much as Ymir was praying for this to happen, she is flabbergasted and unprepared to talk to this beautiful creature, who moves so they're nearly chest to chest.

"Hi." Ymir says gently, feeling shy. The mermaid smiles but remains silent.

"So uh, I'm Ymir." The mermaid keeps smiling but doesn't say anything. Ymir contemplates saying, "Come here often?" but she doubts she'd understand, since it doesn't appear the mermaid can speak English. Ymir's eyes widen as the mermaid touches her hand. At first, she is merely holding it, but then she places something in it. The mermaid gives her a coy smile and then swims away.

Ymir is no longer dreading school, she knows that after seven hours of boredom and torment, she can go to her cove where the mermaid is waiting for her. They have not been able to share a word yet, but Ymir is okay with that.

…

Ymir thinks the mermaid can sense her feelings. One day, when Ymir experienced a rougher time, holding in her tears, the mermaid hugged her and held her close, as if she was trying to make the pain go away. When Ymir started crying, the mermaid brushed her tears away tenderly without a word. Ymir wonders if the mermaid can sense Ymir's attraction to her too.

When the mermaid sees her, she starts smiling automatically. No one else has ever been this excited to see Ymir. They swim together and play games as if they're not teenagers, out in the ocean until sunset, when the mermaid always leaves.

One night when the sun goes down, Ymir grabs her wrist. "Please don't go." she begs. The mermaid gives her a pleading look, and Ymir feels terrible. "I'm sorry." she says as she releases her hand. The mermaid looks sad, and kisses Ymir's hand before swimming off.

The next day, Ymir bolts out of school as the bell rings, rushing to the cove. The mermaid is not there, just as she suspected. Ymir is disappointed, and angry with herself. Each day she returns to the cove, hopeful but doubtful. A week has almost passed, and Ymir is afraid she'll never see her again.

After ten days, Ymir begins to wonder if the mermaid was even real to begin with, and decides this will be the last day she checks, tired of getting her hopes up for nothing.

The mermaid is there first this time. Ymir is filled with relief, and strips down to her swimsuit. The mermaid looks happier than ever. Ymir tries to apologize, but is stopped when a finger is pressed over her lips. With her other hand, the mermaid brings up a clump of smelly gross seaweed. Ymir stares at it, confused. She brings it closer, and Ymir wrinkles her nose. Now with both hands, the mermaid is trying to shove it in her mouth.

The two make eye contact. The mermaid nods and Ymir groans, before stuffing her face with raw disgusting seaweed. She looks up as she chews, and gulps regretfully. She looks down at the mermaid, who somehow looks even more joyful. Ymir is taken aback as the mermaid leans up and starts to kiss her, deeply. Ymir kisses her back, a little self conscious since she just ate that seaweed stuff. She doesn't seem to mind.

Suddenly, Ymir is being pulled underwater. The kissing intensifies but Ymir begins to panic, they're going deeper, the water cooler and darker. Her legs start tingling but she's more concerned about her breathing. Except she _is_ breathing somehow, underwater, and the mermaid breaks the kiss. Ymir looks down, shocked by her legs that have become a scaly, smooth red tail.

"What? How did you do that?" The mermaid laughs blissfully. It's the first time Ymir hears her laugh.

"The seaweed, silly!" Her voice is shimmery.

"Oh." Worry plasters on the mermaid's face.

"I'm sorry, are you not happy? I thought it's what you wanted. We can finally talk and be together. I can change you back but it'll take another ten days probably…" the mermaid admits demurely.

"Wait, you were gone for ten days so I could be like you?" Ymir asks, amazed. The mermaid nods and looks down. Ymir grins.

"I thought it was because you were mad at me. I'm just, wow, I'm really happy, this is more than I could have hoped for." Ymir pauses. "I guess I'm a little surprised because I don't even know your name." The mermaid blushes.

"I'm Historia," she pauses. "Look, the last time we saw each other, I could _feel _how much you didn't want to go back there, the place that makes you so unhappy. I wanted to take you with me, but you were still human. Are you sure you're okay with this?" Historia asks, concerned. Ymir answers with a kiss.

"Will you show me how to read people's feelings? Like you did mine?" Historia grabs Ymir's hand, eyes shining.

"I'll show you_ everything_."


End file.
